Oxley Nature Center and Our Favorite Swimming Hole

Got outside yesterday on a gorgeous sunny Oklahoma day and drove out to the Red Bud Valley

Oxley Nature Center Tulsa, OK

hiking trail in Catoosa. We drove out fairly early before the day got too warm – I on my favorite Yamaha 650 and my beautiful wife drove her Tahoe and took our little princess Sabrina with her. After driving the 50 miles to the trail, we were greeted unexpectedly with closed gates and signs that told of business hours on certain days that didn’t include yesterday. Major upset to say the least. But, since we were already practically in Tulsa, we decided to take a short drive to Mohawk Park, just a little ways farther down the road. At this point, the sun was starting to warm up a bit and we arrived at the Oxley Nature Center in Mohawk Park about 10:30 a.m.

            On rolling into the parking lot, we noticed a sign that read, “No Dogs”, now to us this meant that we couldn’t take our baby into the Nature Center but more than welcome on the primitive hiking trails around the center. The center is located inside the Mohawk Park grounds, about a mile from the Tulsa Zoo. So, we got all leashed up and walked around the outside of the Nature Center to one of the many trails that criss-cross the area. It was really nice in the shade and a cool breeze was welcome. Our hike began on a pleasant note- aside from some muddy areas close to the center. (Here's a link to the video - https://www.facebook.com/johnsphotographicarts/videos/660496208129310/ )

Being the devout adventurers we are, we separated from the initial “Red Fox Loop” trail and walked about a quarter of a mile down the “Bob’s” trail when we encountered a rather large pavilion structure with bathrooms and a couple of fireplaces. This type of pavilion seems to be common in the park area and I know of at least one other in a different area of the park. What really caught our attention though was a half-built debris shelter that was located close to the pavilion. We stayed and took some pictures of the shelter and enjoyed the wildlife, such as Red Fox squirrels and white-tailed deer. One of which decide to grace us with their presence while we were videoing. 

            After the pavilion, we hiked along some everglade-type swamp land, crossed a couple of wooden bridges, and had just turned down another trail called “Blue Heron”. We had just started on this course, and noticing a wooden blind used for observing the wildlife, when a young man carrying a wooden sign approached us and informed us that “dogs were not allowed on the trails”.

This knowledge was concerning, seeing how we had already hiked almost an hour into the property and were just getting ready for some Blue Heron watching. But we thanked the young man, (who seemed very knowledgeable about other hiking trails in the park where we could take our little Sabrina with us) and went back the way we came, but not totally without some opposition and meandering down another canine-forbidden foray. Well, honestly, we may have gotten a little mixed up on exactly which trail we had initially came in on. However, we did manage to eventually find our way back to the parking lot, had a cool drink of water, then headed out for our most favorite spot ever. A place where the water runs clear and the owners don’t mind if you bring your best friend along. An hour later we were immersed in ice cold, clear flowing creek water.

          

We dropped the motorcycle off and traded the Tahoe for the Silverado; stopped by the local Harp’s store for hotdogs, drinks, and other accouterments for a cookout over an open fire. Oh, Robin did bring her marshmallows and I had to eat one just because it was such a nice day. After swimming and walking around our favorite swimming spot, the sun was sinking lower and everything just seemed to gel. It’s like the cosmos had come into alignment and all was right with the world.

There were no protests, no rioting, looting, talking point rhetoric, or general anarchy in the streets. The creek was sparkling and rolling towards its ultimate destination, indifferent to the misfortunes of the world. At this moment, this was my reality and I embraced every minute of it. I was with my loved ones. The ones I care for and who care for me. It was so very peaceful, relaxing, and sublime.

Field Wolf

Went for a walk yesterday after the rain and cut through our favorite field next to  the cemetery. The path was laden with crawfish holes and others that looked like crawfish holes. One in particular looked to be full of water and I didn't think much of it. But on second glance, this beast is seen glaring back from it's hiding spot! Definitely gave it a wide berth as we continued on our way. (Of course, we had to get a picture or two before moving on).

Murder in a Small Town: Epilogue

Epilogue

 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/143552306851508791/?lp=true

 A week after the meeting with Jessica, Angela Krantz begins thinking about her father and goes into the attic of her home to find an old box she had kept of his belongings. His death was hard for her to deal with after losing her mother only years earlier. She finds the box hidden in its dark, dusty corner, opens it, and begins looking through the things left behind by the man who raised her. She finds some familiar trinkets that he had given her as a child and the handwritten cards of hers he had saved over the years. But there is one that she doesn’t recognize. The paper looks much older than the others and it is folded strangely. Angela opens it and sees a child’s crude drawing of stick people, surrounded by cows, chickens, and a barn. “Obviously this a farm, she thinks to herself. The stick figures resemble a father, mother, and little girl holding hands and, at first, Angela thinks it might be one of hers she had drawn when she was younger, but as she looks at the opened drawing, she sees the unmistakable writing of another child that says, “I love you DADDY” and scrawled in the bottom corner of the paper is the name RACHEL.

Murder in a Small Town: The Proposition

The Proposition

“Ms. Reddit, Jessica", began the Sheriff. "I would like for you to think about something. I would like to ask you if you might consider staying on here in Lancaster? Regardless of the outcome of this case, you have shown many admirable qualities essential to good police work. My days as Sheriff are quickly winding down and the town could really use someone with your abilities to take over when I’m gone. You seem to have the ambition and drive needed to do a good job for this town. I know it’s not the ideal job you were hoping for in Cleveland, but it’s a good, honest job that gives you personal satisfaction in helping others in the community. You don’t have to answer me right now, but just think about it”. 

Jessica is stunned and confused. “Did he just offer me the job of Sheriff in Lancaster, Wisconsin?”, she asks herself. She looks at the sheriff, smiles and says,

“Okay Chief, let me think about it. It’s a lot to take in all at once”.

“That’s okay Jessica. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere. The offer will still be here tomorrow”, he jokes. Jessica turns and leaves his office. She exits out the back door and almost collapses. Her heart is racing, and her cheeks flushed. Dominik sees her leave the sheriff’s office and follows her outside.

“Is everything okay, Jessica?” He asks catching up to her. In so doing, he instinctively wraps his large, muscular arm around her slender waist and gently steadies her. “You’re looking a bit pale. Do you need some water”?

“No, I’m okay”, says Jessica. “Just a little overwhelmed at the moment, I guess”. She decides not to tell him what she and the Sheriff had just discussed. She looks out across the barren parking lot and into the yellow-green pasturelands beyond. She smiles broadly and thinks of the old J.C, Penny building only a few yards away and the money her mother had left in a trust for her when she died. It wasn’t much but, “I bet it would be just enough for that old building and a few pieces of gym equipment”, she thinks. She looks at Dominik and, just for a moment, forgets about her cozy one-bedroom apartment on the lake, her friends, (well most of them anyway), and the big city life. “Dominik, what did you say the name of that gym equipment dealership was?”

Murder in a Small Town: The Conclusion

The Conclusion

The Sheriff looks at Jessica for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke. His eyes moving from her to his desk and back again. Finally, he says, “Well, that’s some fine detective work you have here Ms. Reddit but, unfortunately, just showing a link between the girl and this Krantz person doesn’t prove he actually bludgeoned six people to death on the Hansen Farm. If anything, it only proves that this Krantz and Vicki Wilson had some goings on at some point that produced a baby. There were rumors about Vicki and a number of men around the Lancaster area and I’m sure you’re aware of the incestual relationship that’s documented with her and her father. It is a very good coincidence though, but not enough, I’m afraid, to clear this cold case. I’m sorry. I know you and Dominik worked really hard on this one”.

Jessica sees the sheriff speaking and watches his lips move as if in slow motion. She hears the words and everything hits home for her. She knows what he is saying is sound. She knows it’s the truth. “There is no smoking gun”, she thinks. “It’s not enough”.

“You’re right Sheriff”, says Jessica in a half whisper as the wind leaves her sails. “I knew this theory was totally circumstantial, but I also know this case has been brought to the closest possible conclusion that can be”, she says. “It’s just not enough”. Jessica, looks down at the Sheriff’s desk, sighs, turns, and is about to leave when Sheriff Gerrard asks her to wait. Surprisingly, he sits up in his chair and looks Jessica eye-to-eye. Then he offers her an appealing proposition.

Murder in a Small Town: The Witnesses

The Witnesses

"We have witness statements that, right before the Hansen’s murders, an unknown stranger came to Lancaster calling himself “Brandon”. He was known to frequent the bar here in town and was telling everyone he had come back from Panama and that his real name was Jim. However, this man vanished right before the murders and was never seen around here again. This is the part of the story that gets interesting. I thought to myself, what would a deranged psychopath do if they had just committed a brutal homicide? To answer this question, I looked back on famous profiles of mass murders and their modus operandi. (1). They would need to put some distance between themselves and the location of the murders. (2). They would need to change their identity. (3). They would need a place to hide out, possibly in plain sight. So, I began looking at the neighboring cities and farms in particular. Jim had an established pattern of marrying one farmer’s daughter, what’s the likelihood he would continue this pattern? I hoped pretty good. During my research of the surrounding counties, a man by the name of Walter Krantz shows up two weeks after the murders on a farm some fifty miles from here, telling a sob-story about losing his family in an automobile accident while he was away serving in the military. Joe Miller, owner of the farm fell for this stranger’s story and gave him work as a hired hand. Walter took to farm life and ingratiated himself with Joe to the point of actually marrying one of his daughters. (Here Jim’s behavioral pattern is perpetuated). To this fact I have been able to get a sample of (Rachel) the little girl’s DNA and one from Walter Kratz’s daughter and their DNA is a match! This proves that Rachel’s father and Vicki’s husband did not die in Panama but was actually right here, close to the Lancaster area, when the murders occurred”.

Murder in a Small Town: The Scenario

The Scenario

"In my scenario", begins Jessica, "Jim makes his way back to the family farm and hides out in the barn, conceals himself on the premises, and secretly surveils the day-to-day happenings. He does this for a few days, moving between the barn and the attic of the main house. After a few days he decides, to reveal himself to his seven-year-old daughter and try to persuade her to come away with him. In his mind, she is his only link by blood on the whole farm and he wants to take her away, to maybe start another life together. But, something goes terribly wrong as he is attempting this. She may have become frightened and tried to flee, stumbled and fell, hitting her head on something that knocks her unconscious".

"Jim then begins to panic and tries to conceal her under the hay. Then, one by one, the other victims begin coming out to look for the other. First was Rachel’s mother, then her mother, and lastly Carl. It’s December and the ground is frozen. There was no way to dispose of the bodies at this point and Jim gives up trying. He knows that the little boy in the house is an illegitimate child of his supposedly widowed wife and, in his warped thinking, she’s been unfaithful. He goes to the house to dispatch the child with the same farming implement used on the others and wakes the live-in housekeeper in doing so. She can identify him, so she has to be eliminated along with the others. In a rage Jim turns towards the child and brutally murders him. (The crime scene photographs show the crib in splinters after the assault, which usually indicates “overkill” and a crime of passion). Jim then goes back to the barn, finds Rachel and tries to nurse her back to health. Unfortunately, the accidental blow to her head is causing her extreme pain and she finally succumbs to the injury. Jim stays at the farm for several days after the killings, tending to livestock and eating the slain family’s food".  

Murder in a Small Town: Jessica's Theory

Jessica’s Theory

Jessica grabs the results and goes straight to the sheriff’s office. The Captain always appears unemotional to Jessica, and even now he looks up at her from behind his desk, leans back in his chair, laces his fingers across his paunch-belly and simply says, “Okay detective, let’s hear what you have”. Sheriff Gerrard is familiar with the case and his father was one of the original investigators. Jessica enthusiastically begins her story.

“Okay Chief, as you know, thirty years ago, in 1989, six people were brutally murdered on a farm just south of town here. The victims include the farmer Carl, his wife Eula, their daughter Vicki, granddaughter Rachel, grandson william, and live-in housekeeper, Olga. The four bodies found in the barn were not concealed in any way, except for the body of the little girl who had been partially hidden under some hay. The theory at the time was that each of the victims had been lured to the barn one by one and dispatched with some farming implement that was never recovered. The killer then went to the main house and disposed of the little boy and live-in housekeeper. The original theory was that the daughter Vicki, was the first one to meet her fate, followed by her mother Eula, then the farmer Carl, and the little girl Rachel, was the last one slain.

However, I propose that the sequence of events began with Rachel who, by accident, hit her head while trying to flee from a stranger that had made himself home in the barn and in the Hansen’s house. Rachel did not die straight away as the original investigators learned, but lingered for hours before succumbing to the trauma to her head. This fact plays well into what I think actually happened.

There were plenty of suspects at the time, but DNA testing was in its infancy and the original crime scene investigators may have overlooked or ignored any viable evidence.  No usable fingerprints were ever recovered as well. All of the suspects were eventually ruled out, however, the real culprit was able to slip away before being found out.

During this same time in 1989, Vicki’s husband, and Rachel’s father, was serving a tour with the U.S. military during Operation Just Cause in an effort to overthrow Panama’s dictator, Manuel Noriega. Vicki’s husband, Jim Wilson, was presumed killed in that conflict by sniper fire, along with several of his comrades in the same detachment. Eyewitnesses vouch that he had been fatally wounded and his body was sent back to the states for burial. The wounds were so severe, that a closed casket ceremony had to be performed. Furthermore, a soldier from Jim’s detachment, Brandon Smith, was sent back to the base hospital. He had a nasty head wound and the doctors didn’t think he would survive, but he did. After being released from medical care, he was sent back to the states for fourteen days leave before returning to duty. He was never seen or heard from again. I contend that this man was actually Jim Wilson, Vicki’s husband who had switched dog tags with a fallen soldier”

Murder in a Small Town: The Results

The Results

It takes two weeks to get the results back from the lab on the DNA sample from Angela. During that time Jessica tries passing the time productively. She is really bothered about the lack of a good gym close by. This is a ritual for her and probably a little more than obsessive about it. She is tired of having to drive twenty-five miles away to the gym every day. She talks with Dominik out in front of the station while waiting for the mail to arrive.

“Okay, so tell me why there isn’t a gym at the Sheriff’s station, or even one in town for that matter?” She asks. “Personally, I think a gym would foster camaraderie and maintain fitness standards for the department”. Dominik thinks for a moment and then explains, 

“Well, we were talking about getting one at one point, but in a rural area, there are just limited funds to go around. Although the chief had expressed an interest in maybe getting one for the town. That way the department could use it as a training facility for neighboring cities as well, but then again there has to be money in the coffers for that to happen. I really don’t think he sees it as a priority. So, as of now, if you want to go to a gym around here, you either have to drive twenty-five-miles to Daukin, or buy a home gym”, he tells her. “I’ve thought about the home gym idea, but they aren’t cheap”, continues Dominik, “and I would probably end up paying on it the rest of my life. The good thing is that the dealer would come out and install it at my house”.

This is little consolation to Jessica. She sees some very good places right there on main street where a gym could be opened. One in particular is a defunct J.C. Penny store that has been boarded up for a couple of years. Dominik sees her looking at the building and asks, “Why don’t you open one in that old place? It’s as close to the Sheriff’s station as you can get, and you could probably get it real cheap”.

“I don’t know”, says Jessica. Lancaster is just a temporary stay for me - for one and for two, I’ve never really considered being a business owner.

My goal has always been about climbing the career ladder, moving up the ranks, and becoming police chief someday”.  Dominik looks away and says, 
          “Well, if that’s what you want. It’s a lofty goal, I’ll give you that….” The scene is interrupted by the sound of an approaching vehicle and the DLO courier truck is viewed topping the hill. 
         “This is what we’ve been waiting for!” exclaims Jessica. “The results from Angela’s DNA should be here!”

Jessica eagerly takes the mail inside the police building, straight to the cold-case evidence dungeon and opens the letter from the crime lab. She skims to the end paragraph of the last page where the words, “INTERPRETATION” are printed. As she reads the words on the page, her heart begins pumping wildly. The printing reads:

“A combined paternity index of 3,518,300 and a Probability of Paternity of 99.99997%   between Child: Rachel Wilson and Father: Walter Krantz, the alleged father is not excluded as the biological father of the tested child”. 

“This is it!” Jessica shouts. “This proves my theory of what happened on that farm thirty years ago”.